Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

. The archipelago consists of the main island,

Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego ( English: ''Big Island of the Land of Fire'') also formerly ''Isla de Xátiva'' is an island near the southern tip of South America from which it is separated by the Strait of Magellan. The western portion (61. ...

, with an area of , along with numerous smaller islands, including

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

and

Diego Ramírez Islands The Diego Ramírez Islands () are a small group of Chilean subantarctic islands located at the southernmost extreme of South America. History The islands were sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition, and named a ...

. The western part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, about two-thirds including its many islands, is part of Chile, and the eastern part is part of Argentina. The southernmost extent of the archipelago, Cape Horn, lies just north of

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

56°S. The earliest-known human settlement in Tierra del Fuego dates to approximately 8,000 BC. Europeans first explored the islands during

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...

's expedition of 1520. ''Tierra del Fuego'' ("Land of Fire") and similar names stem from sightings of the many fires that the inhabitants built along the coastline and possibly even in their canoes for warmth and signaling. Settlement by those of European descent and the displacement of the native populations did not begin until the second half of the nineteenth century, at the height of the

Patagonian sheep farming boom In late 19th and early 20th centuries, sheep farming expanded across the Patagonian grasslands making the southern regions of Argentina and Chile one of the world's foremost sheep farming areas. The sheep farming boom attracted thousands of immi ...

and of the local gold rush. Today, petroleum extraction dominates economic activity in the north of Tierra del Fuego, while tourism, manufacturing, and Antarctic logistics are important in the south.

History

Prehistory

The earliest human settlement occurred approximately 8,000 BC. The

Yaghan Yaghan, Yagán or Yahgan may refer to: * Yahgan people, an ethnic group of Argentina and Chile * Yahgan language Yahgan or Yagán (also spelled Yaghan, Jagan, Iakan, and also known as Yámana, Háusi Kúta, or Yágankuta) is an extinct language ...

were some of the earliest known humans to settle in Tierra del Fuego. Archeological sites with characteristics of their culture have been found at locations such as

Navarino Island Navarino Island () is a large Chilean island, with an area of and a coastline of . It is located between Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the north, and Cape Horn, to the south. The island forms part of the Communes of Chile, Commune of Cabo ...

European exploration

The name ''Tierra del Fuego'' was given by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

explorer

while sailing for the

Spanish Crown The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

in 1520; he was the first European to visit these lands. He believed he was seeing the many fires (''fuego'' in Spanish) of the Indigenous inhabitants, which were visible from the sea, and that the "Indians" were waiting in the forests to ambush his armada. In 1525,

Francisco de Hoces Francisco de Hoces (died 1526) was a Spanish sailor who in 1525 joined the Loaísa Expedition to the Spice Islands as commander of the vessel ''San Lesmes''. In January 1526, the ''San Lesmes'' was blown by a gale southwards from the eastern m ...

was the first to speculate that Tierra del Fuego was one or more islands rather than part of what was then called

Terra Australis (Latin for ) was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that continental l ...

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

in 1578 and a

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

expedition in 1616 learned more about the geography. The latter expedition named

Hornos Island Hornos Island () is a Chilean island at the southern tip of South America. The island is mostly known for being the location of Cape Horn. It is generally considered South America's southernmost island, but the Diego Ramírez Islands are farther ...

. On his first voyage with in 1830,

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of ...

picked up four native

Fuegian Fuegians are the indigenous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. The name has been credited to Captain James Weddell, who supposedly created the term in 1822. The indigenous Fuegians belonged to several differ ...

s, including "

Jemmy Button Orundellico, known as "Jeremy Button" or "Jemmy Button" or "Jimmy Button" (c. 1815–1864), was a member of the Yahgan (or Yámana) people from islands around Tierra del Fuego in modern Chile and Argentina. He was taken to England by Captain ...

" (''Orundellico'') and

Yokcushlu Yokcushlu () was a Kawésqar woman from the western Tierra del Fuego. In 1830, at the age of nine, she was taken hostage by the crew of the British vessel HMS Beagle, HMS ''Beagle'' and renamed "Fuegia Basket". Robert FitzRoy, captain of the ''B ...

, and brought them to England. The three who survived the voyage were taken to London to meet the king and queen and were, for a time, celebrities. They returned to Tierra del Fuego in the ''Beagle'' with FitzRoy and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, who made extensive notes about his visit to the islands.

European colonization and extinction of Native Americans (1860–1910)

During the second half of the nineteenth century,

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

Catholic missions were established in Río Grande and

Dawson Island Dawson Island () is an island in the Strait of Magellan that forms part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, 100 km south of the city of Punta Arenas in Chile, and part of the Municipality of Punta Arenas. It is located southeast of Brunswi ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

missionaries, who had established missions on

Keppel Island Keppel Island () is one of the Falkland Islands, lying between Saunders and Pebble islands, and near Golding Island to the north of West Falkland on Keppel Sound. It has an area of and its highest point, Mt. Keppel, is high. There is a wide ...

in 1855, established new missions in 1870 at

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital city, capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of 82,615 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, U ...

. These missions continued to operate through the nineteenth century. Missionary Thomas Bridges (1842–1898) learned the native language and compiled a 30,000-word Yaghan grammar and dictionary while he worked at Ushuaia. It was published in the 20th century and is considered an important ethnological work. An 1879 Chilean expedition led by Ramón Serrano Montaner reported large amounts of placer gold in the streams and river beds of Tierra del Fuego. This prompted massive immigration to the main island between 1883 and 1909. Numerous Argentines, Chileans, and

Croatians The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They also f ...

settled on the main island, leading to increased conflicts with native Selkʼnam. These late nineteenth century gold rushes led to the founding of numerous small settlements by immigrants, such as the Argentine settlements of Ushuaia and

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Me ...

and the Chilean settlements of

Porvenir El Porvenir or Porvenir (Spanish language, Spanish: "The Future") may refer to: Places *Porvenir Municipality, Bolivia *Porvenir, Pando, Bolivia *Porvenir, Chile *Porvenir Volcano, Costa Rica *Porvenir, Texas, United States *El Porvenir Parish, Pa ...

and

Puerto Toro Puerto Toro is a hamlet on the eastern coast of Navarino Island, Chile. Puerto Toro was founded in 1892 during the Tierra del Fuego Gold Rush by Governor of Punta Arenas Señoret.Bascopé Julio, JoaquínSENTIDOS COLONIALES I. EL ORO Y LA VIDA SAL ...

Julius Popper Julius Popper (December 15, 1857 – June 5, 1893), known in Spanish as Julio Popper (), was a Romanian Jew and later Argentinian colonial engineer and explorer. He was known as a modern "conquistador" of Tierra del Fuego in southern South Amer ...

, a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

explorer, was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the region. Granted rights by the

Argentine government The government of Argentina, within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The president of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the president ...

to exploit any gold deposits he found in Tierra del Fuego, Popper has been identified as a central figure in the

Selkʼnam genocide The Selknam genocide was the systematic extermination of the Selkʼnam people, one of the four indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego archipelago, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Historians estimate that the genocide spanned a perio ...

. Following contact with Europeans, the native Selkʼnam and

populations were greatly reduced by unequal conflict and persecution by settlers, by

infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

to which the Indigenous people had no

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

, and by mass transfer to the Salesian mission of Dawson Island. Despite the efforts of the missionaries, many natives died. Today, only a few Selkʼnam remain. Some of the few remaining Yaghan have settled in Villa Ukika in

; others have scattered throughout Chile and Argentina. Following the signing of the Boundary Treaty of 1881, Tierra del Fuego was divided between Argentina and Chile; previously, it had been claimed in its entirety by both countries.

Recent history (1940–present)

In 1945, a division of Chilean

CORFO The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from ) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile. Originally, CORFO was responsible for the creation of ...

(Spanish acronym for Production Development Corporation), engaged in

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods V ...

, discovered oil in northern Tierra del Fuego. Extraction began in 1949 and, in 1950, the Chile state-owned ENAP (National Petroleum Company). Until 1960, most oil extracted in Chile came from Tierra del Fuego. During the 1940s Chile and Argentina lodged their Antarctic claims. In the 1950s, the Chilean military founded

Puerto Williams Puerto Williams (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Port Williams") is a city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the Capital city, capital of Antártica Chilena Province, the Chilean Antarctic Provin ...

. In the 1960s and 1970s, sovereignty claims by Argentina over Picton, Lennox, and Nueva Islands in Tierra del Fuego led the two countries to the brink of war. In 1986, the

Argentine congress The National Congress of Argentina () is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, a third of whose members are elected to ...

decided that the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego should be a new province. This happened in 26 April 1990.

Geography

The

consists of a main island,

, often simply called Tierra del Fuego or Isla Grande, with an area of , and a group of smaller islands. Of the main island the westernmost 29,484.7 km² (11,384, 61.43%) belongs to Chile, and 18,507.3 km² (7,146, 38.57%) belongs to Argentina. The archipelago is divided by an east–west channel, the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

, immediately south of the main island. The largest islands south of the Beagle Channel are Hoste and

Navarino Navarino or Navarin may refer to: Battle * Battle of Navarino, 1827 naval battle off Navarino, Greece, now known as Pylos Geography * Navarino is the former name of Pylos, a Greek town on the Ionian Sea, where the 1827 battle took place ** Old Na ...

. The western part of the main island, and almost all the other islands, belong to Chile. They are part of the Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region, the capital and chief town of which is

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (, historically known as Sandy Point in English) is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes Region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as ...

, situated on the mainland across the strait. The largest

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an towns are

, capital of the Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego, located on the main island, and, on Navarino Island,

, which is the capital of the

Antártica Chilena Province Antártica Chilena Province () is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Chile, provinces in Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region (XII). The capital is Puerto Williams. The province comprises ...

lies a few kilometers south of Puerto Williams. Arguably, it is the southernmost village in the world. The mostly uninhabited islands north and west of the main island are part of

Magallanes Province Magallanes Province () is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena. The provincial capital is the city of Punta Arenas. Geography and demography Its eastern portion is located along the northern sh ...

. The eastern part of the main island and a few small islands in the Beagle Channel belong to Argentina. They are part of the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctic Territory and South Atlantic Islands Province, whose capital is

. The other important city in the region is

on the Atlantic coast, the largest in the archipelago. The

Cordillera Darwin The Cordillera Darwin is an extensive mountain range mantled by an ice field that is located in Chile. Description Cordillera Darwin is located in the southwestern portion of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, entirely within the Chilean territor ...

in the southwestern part of the main island contains many glaciers that reach the ocean. While Mount Darwin had previously been thought to be the tallest mountain in the archipelago, this distinction now belongs to the unofficially named

Monte Shipton Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla Gra ...

at . The topography of Tierra del Fuego can be divided into four regions: an outer archipelago region () to the south and west, a mountainous region in the south (), Pisano (1977), p. 124 a plains region () Pisano (1977), p. 128 plus a sub-Andean zone in-between the last two zones (). Pisano (1977), p. 125

Geology

The geology of the archipelago is influenced by the effects of the

Andean orogeny The Andean orogeny () is an ongoing process of orogeny that began in the Early Jurassic and is responsible for the rise of the Andes mountains. The orogeny is driven by a reactivation of a long-lived subduction system along the western margin o ...

and the repeated

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

s. The geology of the island can be divided into large east–west-oriented units. The southwestern islands of the archipelago, including

, are part of the

South Patagonian Batholith The South Patagonian Batholith () is group of plutons in southwestern Patagonia. The rocks of batholith include granite, leucogranite, tonalite, granodiorite, diorite, gabbro and mafic dykes. The earliest plutons of the batholith formed in the Lat ...

, while the

and the area around the

form the principal mountain range hosting the highest mountains. The Magallanes

fold and thrust belt A fold and thrust belt is a series of mountainous foothills adjacent to an orogenic belt, which forms due to contractional tectonics. Fold and thrust belts commonly form in the forelands adjacent to major orogens as deformation propagates outwards ...

extends north of

Almirantazgo Fjord Almirantazgo Fjord (), also known as Almirantazgo Sound () or Admiralty Sound, is a Chilean fjord located in the far south of the country at .Earth Info, ''earth-info.nga.mil'' webpage: . The fjord cuts deeply into the west coast of the Isla ...

and

Fagnano Lake Fagnano Lake (), also called ''Lake Cami'' (), is a lake located on the main island of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, and shared by Argentina and Chile. The 645 km2 lake runs east–west for about 98 kilometres, of which 72.5 km (6 ...

, and north of this lies the Magallanes foreland, an old

sedimentary basin Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock They form when long-term subsidence ...

that hosts

hydrocarbon reserves Oil and gas reserves denote ''discovered'' quantities of crude oil and natural gas from known fields that can be profitably produced/recovered from an approved development. Oil and gas reserves tied to approved operational plans filed on the da ...

Orthogneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

dated at 525 million years is known to underlie some of the oil wells in northern Tierra del Fuego. The

Magallanes–Fagnano Fault The Magallanes–Fagnano Fault () is a continental transform fault. The fault marks a transform boundary between the Scotia plate and the South American plate, cutting across continental crust. It runs under the Strait of Magellan's western arm, Al ...

, a

sinistral Sinistral and dextral, in some scientific fields, are the two types of chirality ("handedness") or relative direction. The terms are derived from the Latin words for "left" (''sinister'') and "right" (''dexter''). Other disciplines use different ...

strike slip fault crosses the southern part of the main island from west to east. It is an active fault, located inside and parallel to the Fuegian

, and marks the boundary between a southern belt of

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

meta Meta most commonly refers to: * Meta (prefix), a common affix and word in English ( in Greek) * Meta Platforms, an American multinational technology conglomerate (formerly ''Facebook, Inc.'') Meta or META may also refer to: Businesses * Meta (ac ...

sediments Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

and a northern

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

belt of sedimentary sequences. Fagnano Lake occupies a glacier-carved depression in a pull-apart basin that has developed along the Magallanes-Fagnano Fault zone.

Podzol Podzols, also known as podosols, spodosols, or espodossolos, are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathlan ...

s and

inceptisol Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are more developed than Entisols. They have no accumulation of clays, iron oxide, aluminium oxide or organic matter. They have a ...

s occur beneath ''

Nothofagus betuloides ''Nothofagus betuloides'', Magellan's beech or ''guindo'', is a tree native to southern Patagonia. In 1769, Joseph Banks, Sir Joseph Banks collected a botanical specimen, specimen of the tree in Tierra del Fuego during James Cook, Captain Cook's ...

'' forests in Tierra del Fuego.

Climate

The Tierra del Fuego region has a subpolar

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfc'') with short, cool summers and long, wet, moderately mild winters: the precipitation averages a year in the far west, but precipitation decreases rapidly towards the eastern side. Temperatures are steady throughout the year: in Ushuaia they hardly surpass in summers and average in winters. Snowfall can occur in summer. The cold and wet summers help preserve the ancient

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s. The southernmost islands possess a sub-antarctic climate typical of tundra that makes the growth of trees impossible. Some areas in the interior have a polar climate. Regions in the world with similar climates to southern Tierra del Fuego are: the

Aleutian islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, the

Alaska Peninsula The Alaska Peninsula (also called Aleut Peninsula or Aleutian Peninsula, ; Sugpiaq language, Sugpiaq: ''Aluuwiq'', ''Al'uwiq'') is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. T ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island in the south-western Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. It has been governed as a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1880. It became a Protected areas of Tasmania, Tasmania ...

, and the Heard and McDonald Islands.

Flora

Only 30% of the islands have forests, which are classified as Magellanic subpolar. The northeastern portion of the region is made up of steppe and cool semi-desert. Six species of tree are found in Tierra del Fuego: canelo or winter's bark (''

Drimys winteri ''Drimys winteri'', also known as Winter's bark, foye and canelo, is a slender species of tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a ...

''); '' Maytenus magellanica''; ''

Pilgerodendron uviferum ''Pilgerodendron'' is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, ''Pilgerodendron uviferum'', which is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests of southern Chil ...

'', the southernmost conifer in the world; and three kinds of

southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

: ''

Nothofagus antarctica ''Nothofagus antarctica'' (''Antarctic beech''; in Spanish ''Ñire'' or ''Ñirre'') is a deciduous tree or shrub native to southern Chile and Argentina from about 36°S to Tierra del Fuego (56° S), where it grows mainly in the diminishing tempe ...

''; ''

Nothofagus pumilio ''Nothofagus pumilio'', the lenga beech (from the Mapuche language), is a deciduous tree or shrub in the Nothofagaceae family that is native to the southern Andes range, in the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego, from 35 ...

''; and the evergreen ''

''. Several kinds of fruit grow in open spaces in these forests, such as

beach strawberry ''Fragaria chiloensis'', the beach strawberry, Chilean strawberry, or coastal strawberry, is one of two species of wild strawberry that were hybridized to create the modern garden strawberry (''F. × ananassa''). It is native to the Pacific Oce ...

(''Fragaria chiloensis'' var. ''chiloensis'' forma ''chiloensis'') and calafate (''Berberis buxifolia''), which have long been gathered by both Native Americans and residents of European descent. They are the only forests in the world to have developed in a climate with such cold summers. Tree cover extends very close to the southernmost tip of South America. Winds are so strong that trees in wind-exposed areas grow into twisted shapes, inspiring people to call them "flag-trees". Tree vegetation extends to the southern tip of the region, Isla Hornos, although the

Wollaston Islands The Wollaston Islands () are a group of islands in Chile south of Navarino Island and north of Cape Horn and east of the Hoste Island. The islands are ''Grevy'', ''Bayly'', ''Wollaston'' and ''Freycinet'', as well as the islets ''Dédalo'', ''Su ...

are mostly covered by subantarctic

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

except in wind sheltered areas where the trees can survive. File:Drimys winteri.jpg, ''

'' flowers File:Nothofagus antarctica D.jpg, ''

'' File:Nothofagus pumilio.jpg, ''

'' File:Nothofagus betuloides.jpg, ''

'' Forests from Tierra del Fuego have expanded beyond local importance. These forests have been a source of trees that have been transplanted abroad in places with similar climate, but which originally were devoid of trees, such as the

and nearby archipelagos. Most species were gathered from the coldest places in Tierra del Fuego, mainly sites with tundra borders. This effort resulted in positive changes, as the heavy winds and cool summers in the Faroe Islands did not allow the growth of trees from other regions in the world. The imported trees are used ornamentally, as curtains against wind, and to fight erosion caused by storms and grazing in the Faroe Islands.

Fauna

Among the most notable animals in the archipelago are

austral parakeet The austral parakeet, austral conure, cachaña, rawilma or emerald parakeet (''Enicognathus ferrugineus'') is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Argentina, Chile, ...

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

guanaco The guanaco ( ; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids; the other species is the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The gua ...

South American fox The South American foxes (''Lycalopex''), commonly called ''raposa'' in Portuguese, or ''zorro'' in Spanish, are a genus inhabiting South America. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to ...

es,

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

king penguin The king penguin (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'') is the second largest species of penguin, smaller than but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. King penguins mainly eat lanternfish, squid, and krill. On foraging trips, king pen ...

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s, and firecrown hummingbirds.

is also home to the lizard with the world's southernmost distribution, ''

Liolaemus magellanicus ''Liolaemus magellanicus'', also known commonly as Magellan's tree iguana, is a species of lizard in the family Liolaemidae. The species is native to southern South America. It is notable for being the southernmost lizard species in the world. ...

''.

North American beaver The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two Extant taxon, extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and has been introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe ...

s, introduced during the 1940s, have proliferated and caused considerable damage to the island forests. The governments have established a wide-reaching program to trap and kill beavers in Tierra del Fuego. Like the mainland of Chile and Argentina to the north, this archipelago boasts some of the finest

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fishing in the world. Sea-run brown trout often exceed , particularly in rivers such as the Rio Grande and the San Pablo, and in the

Lago Fagnano Fagnano Lake (), also called ''Lake Cami'' (), is a lake located on the main island of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, and shared by Argentina and Chile. The 645 km2 lake runs east–west for about 98 kilometres, of which 72.5 km (6 ...

. Waters adjacent to Tierra del Fuego are very rich in

cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

n diversity. Sightings of

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s in Tierra del Fuego have increased in the 2000s, humpbacks, and some others such as

blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

s, southern fins, southern seis, and southern minkes. Beagle Channel is a prominent area to watch rare, endemic dolphins, and the less-studied

pygmy right whale The pygmy right whale (''Caperea marginata'') is a species of baleen whale. It may be a member of the cetotheres, a family of baleen whales which until 2012 were thought to be extinct; ''C. marginata'' has otherwise been considered the sole m ...

Pinniped Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely range (biology), distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant taxon, extant families Odobenidae (whose onl ...

s inhabiting the areas include

South American sea lion The South American sea lion (''Otaria flavescens'', formerly ''Otaria byronia''), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the Monotypic ta ...

s (''Otaria flavescens''),

South American fur seal The South American fur seal (''Arctocephalus australis'') breeds on the coasts of Peru, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The total population is around 250,000. However, population counts are sparse and outdated. Althou ...

s (''Arctophoca australis''), the carnivorous and seal-eating

leopard seal The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is a top order predator, feeding on a wide range of prey including cep ...

s (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), and gigantic

southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...

s (''Mirounga leonine'')the largest extant

marine mammal Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine enviro ...

that is not a

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

Islands

The following table lists islands over 1 . Area figures are from the USGS unless otherwise specified.

Economy

Today, the main economic activities of the archipelago are fishing, extraction of natural gas and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

. Tourism is gaining increasing importance as it attracts numerous upmarket visitors. Much of the tourism is based on "southernmost" claims: for example, both

and

claim to be the "southernmost city in the world". On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego, the government has promoted the establishment of several electronic companies via tax exemptions, particularly in the city of

. Energy production is a crucial economic activity. On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego during the period 2005–2010, petroleum and natural gas extraction contributed 20% of the region's economic output.

Cultural depictions

* Alexander Buchan participated in the 1768–1771

first voyage of James Cook The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. The aims were to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti and to ...

aboard , where he was one of the artists in the entourage of botanist

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

. ''Endeavour'' lay at anchor in the Bay of Good Success on 15 January 1769. He took part in an expedition which started from here. * As a ship painter,

Conrad Martens Conrad Martens (21 March 1801 – 21 August 1878) was an English-born landscape painter active on second voyage of HMS Beagle, HMS ''Beagle'' from 1833 to 1834. He arrived in Australia in 1835 and painted there until his death in 1878. Life ...

drew and created watercolour paintings in 1833 and 1834 during the second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' in Tierra del Fuego. * The French painter and lithographer

Évremond de Bérard Évremond de Bérard (30 June 1824 – 25 January 1881) was a French painter and lithographer. He spent much of his life travelling, and was present at the opening of the Suez Canal. Biography In 1843, he began four years of study in Paris with ...

illustrated the travel journal "

Le Tour du Monde ''Le Tour du monde, nouveau journal des voyages'' () was a French weekly travel journal first published in January 1860.Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Biography Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English American, English descent. ...

painted "more than twenty large pictures of Tierra del Fuego" during his stay there in 1922 and 1923, as he reported in his autobiography ''It's Me O Lord: The Autobiography of Rockwell Kent''. * The German painter

Ingo Kühl Ingo Kühl (born 29 June 1953) is a German painter, sculptor and architect. Life Grown up in Bovenau near Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein as a son of a policeman, Ingo Kühl attended the Theodor Storm, Theodor-Storm-Realschule in Hanerau-Hadem ...

travelled three times to Tierra del Fuego, where he created paintings in a cycle entitled ''Landscapes of the End of the World'' (2005). File:Endeavour off the Coast of Tierra del Fuego.jpg, Alexander Buchan ''HMS Endeavour on 12 January 1769, off the coast of Tierra del Fuego'' File:Inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego Alexander Buchan BL Add MS 23920.jpg, Alexander Buchan ''Inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego'', 1769 File: HMS Beagle by Conrad Martens.jpg ,

''HMS Beagle in Tierra del Fuego'', between 1832 and 1836 File:Le Tour du monde-03-p232.jpg,

''Tierra del Fuego,

Monte Sarmiento Monte Sarmiento is a pyramidal peak with a glaciated saddle-shaped summit located within Alberto de Agostini National Park, in the Chilean portion of Tierra del Fuego. It rises abruptly from the east shore of the Magdalena Channel and marks the ...

seen from Froward Cape'', 1861 File: Ingo Kühl "Gletscher (Beagle Kanal)" 2005.jpg ,

''Glacier (Beagle Channel)'', 2005 painted in

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Bridges, Lucas. 1948. ''Uttermost Part of the Earth''. Reprint with introduction by Gavin Young, Century Hutchinson, 1987. * Keynes, Richard. 2002. ''Fossils, Finches and Fuegians: Charles Darwin's Adventures and Discoveries on the ''

Beagle The Beagle is a small breed of scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting rabbit or hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking inst ...

'', 1832–1836''.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

Publishers, London. Reprint: 2003. * Bollen, Patrick. 2000. "Tierra del Fuego" B/W Photobook. Lannoo Publishers, Tielt, Belgium. *

External links

Official website of Argentine Tierra del Fuego

Chile Cultural Society – Tierra del Fuego
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tierra Del Fuego Archipelagoes of Argentina Archipelagoes of Chile Archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Islands of Magallanes Region Landforms of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina Patagonia Natural regions of South America Regions of Argentina Regions of Chile Regions of South America